How to sign “Academic” in ASL
The BSL sign for “Academic” isn't in our dictionary yet — it will be fingerspelled in BSL mode, never replaced with this ASL sign.
Step by step
- Hold both hands in loose flat handshapes, fingers together with thumbs resting casually alongside.
- Hold the non-dominant hand steady at chest height with its palm facing upward.
- Bring the dominant hand down onto the non-dominant palm twice, as if clapping quietly.
- Keep the dominant palm facing down and the base hand facing up as the hands meet.
- Use a neutral, matter-of-fact expression, keeping most of the motion in the dominant hand.
Practice tip
Same production as SCHOOL — context tells listeners whether you mean a school or the academic sense; it is not the sign for college.
Fingerspell “Academic”
Letter by letter — a handy backup if you forget the sign above. This is not the sign itself.
Text-based guide researched from established ASL references (Lifeprint, university and public-health materials) and rewritten in original words. Signer-created photos and videos are a planned future upgrade.